Pressure retaining stopper



Aug. 30, 1960 R, Q, MAZZA 2,950,834

- v PRESSURE RETAINING STOPPER Filed Oct. 28. 1957 53 INVENTOR.

Fqipfi O. ma ya re Spams The invention of the present applicationrelates to pressure retaining stoppers and is particularly concernedwith stoppers intended for use in bottles containing beverages, such aschampagne, under pressure.

Because of the relatively high pressure, which may be about 90 p.s.i.when the bottle is warm, existing in champagne bottles, it is necessaryto provide mechanical means for holding the stopper in the mouth of thebottle. Traditionally, an ordinary cork has been used with wire securingit to the neck of the bottle. This has not been satisfactory, at leastin part because the difficulties involved in twisting the wires whilethe cork is mechanically held in the bottle make costs excessive. Whileother types offastenings have been suggested they, also, have beenunsatisfactory and there has been until now need for a stopper which canbe applied and secured easily and with means adapted for use withautomatic filling machinery.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a stopper of thecharacter described which is easy to apply and to remove.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stopper of thecharacter described which is securely held in the mouth of a bottleuntil its removal is desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stopper of thecharacter described which is inexpensive to manufacture and is readilyassembled.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a pressure retaining stopper according to oneembodiment of the present invention, the stopper being shown inassembled position closing the mouth of a bottle;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure1, showing the interior construction of the stopper;

Figure 3 is a side view of the stopper shown in Figure 1.as viewed fromanother angle;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 1showing a portion of the stopper harness as applied to the neck of abottle;

Figure 5 is a developed view of the retaining harness forming a part ofthe stopper shown in Figures 1 to 3;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1 in which there is illustrated amodification of the retaining harness and its attachment to the stopperbody; and

Figure 7 is a side view of a further modified type of harness for usewith stoppers according to the present invention.

In Figure 3 there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention. Itwill be observed that the stopper body, generally designated by thereference character 11, and the retaining harness, generally designatedby the reference character 12, are here assembled into a unit which maybe easily applied to a bottle. The stopper body 11 Patented Aug. 30,1960 comprises a head 14, which may be provided with a series of grooves16 to aid in turning the stopper, a depending skirt 17 and a hollow plugportion 18. The bore 19 in the plug portion 18 gradually diminishes indiameter inwardly from the open end and extends upwardly into the head14. The wall of the plug portion is thus tapered in cross section. Thestopper body 11 is preferably formed of flexible material such as moldedpolyethylene plastic.

The retaining harness 12 is preferably formed of thin aluminum or otherductile but strong metal. It comprises 'an upper border or ring 2 1 anda lower border or ring 22 which are parallel and joined at intervals bya plurality of tongues or connecting strips 23, thus providing alatticed structure with a plurality of openings through the harness 12.Above each of the tongues 23 there is provided in the upper ring orborder 21 a perforation 26 which may conveniently be segment-like inshape with a curved or arcuate lower edge and an upper edge that isstraight and parallel with said ring.

A tubular retaining harness 12 as illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 may beformed in any desired manner. Where large quantities of such harnessesare desired they may be conveniently and economically produced byextrusion. Smaller quantities may be made by dieing or punching outblanks shaped as illustrated in Figure 5 from suitable sheet metal andbutt welding the end edges 29 to form tubular harnesses. Each harness ispreferably provided with a pull tab 31 attached to the upper ring 2'1.Scoring as indicated at 32 and 33 is provided on the upper and lowerborders 21 and 22, respectively, to facilitate tearing of the rings orborders when the harness is to be removed.

A stopper body 11 and a retaining harness 12 are assembled into a unitready for use by fastening the harness to the depending skirt 17 of thestopper body. The skirt is provided with a plurality of spaced,integral, outwardly projecting cars 34, each of which has a flat uppersurface and an outwardly tapered lower surface. The ears 34 are sospaced and formed that one of them is adapted .to enter each of theperforations 26 in the upper border or ring 21 of the harness when theharness is pushed against the stopper body. Since the ears, being ofplastic, are somewhat flexible and the lower faces thereof are beveled,no difficulty is encountered in assembling a complete stopper andharness unit. Once assembled, the harness is securely held againstremoval from the stopper body by engagement of the flat, upper edges ofthe perforations 26 against the flat upper surfaces of the cars 34.

In Figures 1 and 2, which illustrate the use of the pressure retainingstopper illustrated in Figure 3, the numeral 39 designates the neck of abottle, such as a champagne bottle, which is provided with an annularflange or shoulder 41 projecting outwardly adjacent the mouth 43thereof. As will be readily seen in Figure 2, the stopper body 11- Withdependent harness 12 may be easily applied to the bottle by forcing theplug portion 18 of the flexible stopper body into the bore 42 of thebottle neck. The skirt 17 of the stopper head covers the lip of thestopper mouth and the lower border or ring 22 of the harness 12 extendsdownwardly around the neck 39 below the shoulder or flange 41.

To retain the stopper in the bottle the lower ring 22 of the harness 12is cn'mped as shown in Figures land 4 to prevent longitudinal movementof the stopper. The crimping, which may be done by any suitable means,is preferably carried out so that the projecting portions 46 of theborder 22 formed thereby are situated between the tongues or connectingstrips 23. Crimping, of course,

reduces the diameter of the ring 22 and thereby causes the ring and thelower portions of the tongues 23- to be fitted closely against thebottle neck 39 below the outwardly extending shoulder or flange 4-1. Themetal projections 46 formed by the crimping are preferably bent over tolie fiat against the ring 22 as shown. v

V Figure 6 shows, applied to a suitable bottle, a modified form ofpressure-retaining stopper according to the present invention in whichthe upper ring or border 48 of the retaining harness 47 is spun orotherwise forced into an annular groove 49 formed in the skirt portion17' of the stopper head 14. The construction of the latticed harness andthe stopper head may be, except for the modifications necessary to jointhem in the described manner, otherwise identical with the structureillustrated in Figures 1 to 5.

Figure 7 illustrates a further modification of a retaining harness foruse with pressure-retaining stoppers of the character described therein.This modification may be preferred when relatively small numbers arerequired. The harness 51 is similar to the one shown in the otherfigures and described above. However, it is preferably formed by dieingor punching from a sheet of metal a strip having longitudinal solidborder portions 52 and 53 which are connected at intervals byconnecting. strips or tongues 54. At intervals around the upper border52 in the areas opposite the tongues 54 suitable, preferably arcuate,slits are made by a die or other suitable means. The metal Within eachof the slits is folded back to provide an opening or perforation 56.These openings are employed in the same manner as the perforations 26(Figures 1-5) to retain the harness on a stopper body, the folded backmetal 57 over each of the holes 56 providing a smooth, non-cutting edgefor engagement with the upper surface of one of the cars 34 thereon. Apull tab 58 is provided at one end of the strip forming the harness 51and adjacent thereto there is provided a slot 59 adapted to receive atab or finger 61 provided at the other end of the strip.

In practice, the modified type of latticed harness 51 illustrated inFigure 7 is punched out and formed as a flat strip from aluminum orother suitable, easily worked, but strong metal, and the metal is foldedback to form the openings 56 as illustrated. The harness is then bentinto cylindrical shape and the tab or finger 61 is inserted through theslot 59 and bent over as illustrated. The harness 51 may be assembledwith a stopper body 11 in the same way as described above in explainingthe embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 5, and the combined stopperbody and harness thus produced may be applied to suitable bottles andcrirnped thereon below the annular flange or shoulder adjacent thebottle mouth in the same way as described above.

As indicated above, a stopper body and harness assembly as illustratedand described herein is readily applied to a bottle by machinery adaptedfor closing bottles which contain liquids under pressure. The crimpingof the lower border of the harness is preferably performed by suitablemachinery associated with the filling and closing apparatus but may, ifdesired, be done manually. After crimping the filled bottles may behandled and stored without danger of the stoppers being ejected. When itis desired to remove a stopper the pull tab 31, if the harness is of thetypes shown in Figures 1 to 6, is first pulled upwardly to rupture theupper ring or border 21 or 48 of the harness and then pulled downwardlyto rupture the lower ring, thus freeing the stopper and allowing it tobe withdrawn. Should the harness be of the type illustrated in Figure 7,the pull tab 58 is pulled counter-clockwise as viewed from the bottletop. The tab or finger 61 is thereby bent back and removed from the slot59, the whole harness coming off so that the stopper is no longer heldagainst removal.

It will be evident from the foregoing description that the presentinvention provides pressure retaining stoppers which satisfactorily meetthe needs of the industry. They are inexpensive to manufacture, areeasily assembled, and are easily applied to bottles and secured thereon.Being formed of non-porous materials they are unlikely to receive andretain any deleterious substances as is sometimes the case with porousstoppers. Moreover, stoppers according to the present invention may, ifdesired, be readily sterilized to prevent contamination of the contentsof bottles.

It is to be understood that numerous modifications and variations in theconstruction illustrated and described herein may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. Thus, for example, thestopper bodies may be made of other suitable flexible material insteadof polyethylene plastic and the head of the stopper may be of anydesired shape or configuration. Further, the harnesses may be shaped orformed somewhat differently from those illustrated, the differencesbetween Figure 3 and Figure 7 indicating some of the possiblevariations. For example, the harness illustrated in Figure 3 may, ifdesired, have the metal from the perforations 26 bent back as it is inFigure 7. Also, while aluminum is preferred for construction of theharnesses, other metals may be employed under suitable conditions. Itis, therefore, desired that the invention shall not be considered aslimited to the construction illustrated and described, but shall beinterpreted as broadly as permitted by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pressure retaining stopper for a bottle having an outwardlyprojecting annular flange adjacent the mouth thereof consisting of ahollow, flexible, plastic, stopper body having a depending skirt portionadapted to cover the mouth of said bottle, said skirt portion beingprovided with spaced, outwardly extending projections, and acylindrical, latticed, metal harness concentric within said body andadapted to encircle the neck of said bottle, said harness comprising anupper border encircling said skirt portion and provided withperforations through which said projections extend, thereby to securesaid harness to said stopper body, a lower border, said lower borderbeing longitudinally spaced from said upper border a distance which willpermit it to be crimped below the annular flange of said bottle neckwhen the stopper is inserted in said bottle, and a pull tab adapted whenpulled to free said harness from said body.

2. A pressure retaining stopper for a bottle having an outwardlyprojecting annular flange adjacent the mouth thereof consisting of ahollow, flexible, stopper body having a depending skirt portion adaptedto cover the mouth of said bottle, said skirt portion being providedwith an annular groove, and a cylindrical, latticed, metal hardnessconcentric with said body and adapted to encircle the neck of saidbottle, said hardness comprising a first ring encircling said skirtportion and having its upper edge engaged in said groove, thereby tosecure said harness to said stopper body, a second ring, said secondring being longitudinally spaced from said first ring a distance whichwill permit it to be crimped below the annular flange of said bottleneck when the stopper is inserted in said bottle, and a pull tab adaptedwhen pulled to free said harness from said body.

3. A cylindrical, latticed, metal harness adapted to be secured to astopper body and to encircle the neck of a bottle, said harnesscomprising a first ring having means for securing said harness to astopper body, said means consisting of a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced perforations adapted to engage on projections on said stopperbody, a second ring longitudinally spaced from said first ring andconnected thereto by a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongues,and a pull tab integral with said first ring and adapted when pulled torupture said first ring.

4. A cylindrical, latticed, metal harness adapted to be secured to astopper body and to encircle the neck of a bottle, said harnesscomprising a first ring having means for securing said harness to astopper body, said means consisting of a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced perforations adapted to engage on projections on said stopperbody, a second ring longitudinally spaced from said first ring andconnected thereto by a plurality of circumferentially spaced tongues,and a pull tab integral with said harness and adapted when pulled toopen said harness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSBernardin Mar. 24,

Rasmussen Oct. 29,

Towns Feb. 16,

Rigolot Mar. 26,

Schnier et a1. Feb. 10,

FOREIGN PATENTS Italy Jan. 30,

